HOVEY TOP TENUKI IN VERMONT: George Hovey 14K won all four games to top the March 4 Tenuki to Vermont Go Tournament. "We had 18 participants in our go tournament in Middlebury, in the midst of a winter snow storm," reports organizer Pete Schumer. Winner's Report: 1st: George Hovey 14k 4-0; 2nd: John Elder 7k 3-1; 3rd: David Pearson 5k 3-1; 4th: Jonathan Hilt 15k 3-1; Others with 3 - 1 records: Quentin Dombro and Dan Deneen.

SCHATTKE HEAVIEST IN CHI: Robert Schattke 2d took top honors in Chicago's "Survival of the Fattest" tournament March 4. "Young Will Zhou, playing at the new rank of 5d, managed to win 4 out of 5, losing only to Mr. Schattke," reports TD Bob Barber. "Mr. Nagaslaev is new to our tournaments, and clearly won't be 3k for long. Ms. Kolb had it as her goal to reach 5k by Congress, and seems to have done it already. Eleven of our 37 players -- and two of the winners -- are students of our local pro, Ms. Huang Liping." Winner's Report: 1st Place Dan: Robert Schattke 2d; First Place Low Kyu (tie): Vladimir Nagaslaev 3k & Laura Kolb 5k; 1st Place Mid Kyu: Richard Zhang 10k; 1st Place High Kyu: John Wang 24k.

CONGRESS ANNOUNCES CHUCK ROBBINS CHALLENGE: Organizers for this year's US Go Congress in Black Mountain, NC have announced a brand-new event for 2006. "In the spirit of fun, we would like to hold the first annual 'Chuck Robbins Challenge' at this year's Congress," reports organizer Paul Celmer. "As you all know, Chuck Robbins, the grand title holder of the AGA all-time records for both most go events attended and most rated go games played, has never been seen in anything but a white dress shirt while attending his innumerable events." This year might be different, Celmer tells the EJ. "Chuck has agreed to put his sartorial custom on the line by battling up to 20 kyu players simultaneously. If he wins more than half of his games, he gets to keep his shirt and winners get a collector's "I Beat Chuck" t-shirt. But if he loses more than half, he must wear a colored Congress t-shirt, something he has not do
ne in over ten years of attending Go Congresses." Players who have never attended a Congress before get priority seating. Find out more at http://www.usgo.org/congress/index.asp including the mysterious and coveted North Carolina State Go Board, and the Mountain-top Go Trek.

GO CAMP DIRECTOR WANTED: The 2006 AGA East Coast Go Camp is looking for a camp director, reports organizer David Dinhofer. "The main job is to make sure the kids have fun," says Dinhofer, "We hope to have about 30 young players this year." The director should know the game well enough to teach beginners but does not need to be a strong player, says Dinhofer. Other qualifications include tolerance and patience. The job also entails managing the staff of seasoned go players and parents, coordinating activities and keeping track of the children. Compensation includes a small stipend, free room and board and access to all classes given at the camp. "At least the next time you see one of those kids sitting across from you at a tournament, you will understand why you were demolished," Dinhofer promises. For more info, contact David Dinhofer, Go Camp organizer, at ddinhofer@msn.com or call 607 348 4925 (evenings).

TRAVELING BOARD?: The EJ is looking for reviews of portable go boards for an upcoming special report. Reviews must be at least 200 words and should explain specifically what you like (or dislike). We're especially (but not soley) interested in magnetic go sets (Kiseido and Yutopian), Slate & Shell's Small Wooden Go Set (Slate & Shell) and folding boards (Kiseido, Yutopian, and Samarkand). Reviews selected to run win $25 go vendor gift certificates. Send reviews to journal@usgo.org by 3/31

KOLB & HUYNH TAKE ON CHALLENGE: Laura Kolb and Lee Huynh have joined the EJ team, taking over as Shodan Challenger Coordinators. The 2006 Challenge now has 50 participants and Kolb and Huynh will be lining up monthly activities and incentives to help the Challengers achieve their goals by the 2006 US Go Congress. Huynh started playing in late 2002 after watching the Hikaru no Go anime; he works in Chicago at NAVTEQ, which produces digital maps. Kolb has been playing go since 2001, when she was a grad student in physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She's finishing up law school at the University of Michigan, and will be moving to Chicago in May to practice intellectual property law. She's a 2006 Challenger herself, with a goal of 5-kyu, which she may have already reached after doing well in the recent Chicago tournament.

JAPANESE DOMINATE FIRST ROUND OF CHUNLAN CUP: The Japanese players did very well in the first round of the international Chunlan Cup, winning four of the eight games played last Saturday in Beijing. Victors included Cho Chikun 9P, Kono Rin 8P, Yoda Norimoto 9P, and Yuki Satoshi 9P. Michael Redmond 9P, the North American representative, lost to Ko Geuntae 5P of Korea, and the European representative Taranu Catalin 5P lost to Lee Sedol 9P of Korea. In the second round eight seeded players will join in, including six Chinese, one Japanese, and one Korean so half the players in that round will be Chinese. This Cup was won last year by Lee Changho 9P of Korea, who is the seeded Korean. We'll report on the second round results next week.

GU LI 1 AWAY FROM LG CUP WIN: Gu Li 7P, currently number one among Chinese pros, defeated Chen Yaoye 5P of China twice by resignation to start off the best-of-five finals of the international LG Cup. Cho U 9P of Japan won this cup last year, but lost in the second round this time. The North American representative, Huiren Yang 1P, lost in the first round to finalist Chen. The European representative, Alexandre Dinerchtein 1P, also lost in the first round. Lee Sedol 9P of Korea got off to a good start, defeating two top Japanese, Hane Naoki 9P and Yamashita Keigo 9P, but lost to Gu Li in the semifinals. Lee is number one among Korean pros in terms of wins this year with fifteen victories and only three losses. Gu Li is tops among Chinese pros in this regard, with eleven wins and only one loss. The next game in the LG Cup finals is scheduled in mid-April. The Chinese must be happy to be assured of yet another internati
onal title to go with the Samsung, won by Luo Xihe 9P in January, and the Ing, won by Chang Hao 9P last December.

CHO CHIKUN 1-0 IN JUDAN DEFENSE: Cho Chikun 9P has gotten off to a good start in his defense of his Judan title in Japan (the only title he currently holds), defeating the challenger, current Kisei Yamashita Keigo 9P, by resignation. Cho and Yamashita have now met twelve times in pro competition, and Cho has only won three times, so he is something of an underdog. Yamashita also has a twenty-two year advantage in age. We have attached a copy of the SGF file of the game for your enjoyment, courtesy of the go4go.net site. Cho also just won his first game in the international Chunlan Cup, defeating Yu Bin 9P of China. So far in 2006 Cho has won eight games and lost only one, boding well for his fiftieth year.

CLOSE RACE IN JAPANESE HONINBO LEAGUE: With only one round to go in the League to determine the next challenger for the Honinbo in Japan, Hane Naoki 9P has the lead at 5-1, having lost only to Cho U 9P, but Cho, Yoda Norimoto 9P, and Yamada Kimio 9P are all at 4-2. The current title holder is Takao Shinji 9P, who took it from Cho U last year. Cho had held it for the previous two years, but will need a bit of luck to get a crack at getting it back this year.

BEN HE DEFEATS LI SHEN TO WIN CAMBRIDGE TRIGANTIUS: Ben He 4d of Glasgow won the Cambridge Trigantius by defeating Li Shen 6d of London in the final round. There were sixty-six participants in this three round tournament, a third of whom were dan level players. Two other players besides Ben won all three of their games: Paul Tabor 1k of Epsom Downs, who defeated three one dan players, and Ingrid Jendrzejewski 18k of Cambridge. This is the third year in a row that young Li Shen has failed to win this tournament.

LIFE MEMBER, CHAPTER BONUS: Life Members and AGA chapters are getting a bonus this month: Life Members will each get a complete set of the 12 back issues of Go World the AGA just received, while new or renewing chapters will get double the current offer for new or renewing members (i.e. 2 Go Worlds for 1 year, 4 for 2 years and 6 for 3 years). The English-language quarterly from Kiseido provides in-depth coverage of top tournament games along with a wealth of terrific instructional material. The set of 12 Go Worlds is a token of appreciation for the support of the AGA by Life Members and chapters. Life Members pay a one-time fee for Full Membership for the life of the member, and chapters organize and promote a host of local go activities across the country. Details at https://secure.wui.net/usgo.org/membership/application2.asp Reminder: anyone join
ing the AGA - or renewing their membership - this month gets a free copy of Go World!

COMING UP FRIDAY: Look for a triple bonus of three Challenger game commentaries!

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